Building material



P. R. HOLLAENDER BUILDING MATERIAL Filed March 11, 1941 rl a @QQV/Y 223BY I ATTORNEYJ' Patented May 11, 1943 UNl'lhB STATES OFFICE BUILDINGMATE IAL Peter R. Hollaender, Cincinnati, Ohio Application March 11,1941, S lial No. 382,762

Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in bathtub installations. Theprincipal object has been to provide means for sealing the joints or.J'm ctures at which the rim of a recessed or built-in bathtub joins thewall of the room so that the seepage of water is prevented.

In the typical modern bathtub installation, the bath room is providedwith a recess which is 01? approximately the same dimensions as thebathtub to be installed. The tub is appropriately mounted within therecess and the tile or finish coat of plaster is applied so that abuilt-in appearance is obtained. Thus the piping is concealed, and oneside wall and one or both ends of the tub meet with the walls of thebath room so that no pockets are left around the tub or beneath it,within which dirt may accumulate.

In some instances, and especially when the bathtub is supported upon thefloor of the room, there is a settling which takes place (due to the tubweight) and a crack or opening is formed at the juncture of the tub rimand the room wall. In other instances the wall shrinks, separating fromthe tub and thereby leaving a similar crack or opening through which anywater collected upon the rim of the tub is free to flow or seep. Theseepage of water frequently causes damage to the plaster on the walls ofadjoining rooms or the ceiling of the room below. The d-ifiicultyobviously is most pronounced in shower'installations, since a stream ofwater from the shower head falls upon the bathtub rim. The object of thepresent invention is to provide a positive seal for preventing suchleakage of water even if there actually is an opening at the juncture ofthe bath room wall and the tub rim.

A further object is to provide a seal which can be installed very easilyand conveniently by the plumber and which does not in any mannerinterfere with the other requirements of the installation.

The sealing material by which these and other objects of the inventionare accomplished is dis.- closed in the specification which follows, andseveral typical embodiments are illustrated in the drawing, in which-Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the principal details of atypical bathtub installation which has been performed in accordance withthe present invention.

Figure 2 is a cross sectional viewshowing the relationship of the sealto the room wall and :to the tub rim.

Figure 3 is a perspective view showing .a supplemental sealing materialadapted to he :used in conjunction with the rim seal of the presentinvention.

Briefly, one type of material of the pr s nt invention is a .fiexiblestrip having means adjacent one longitudinal edge for engagement w t t eb th u rim so as to est t er on pr e attac e thereto convenient Aflesibls wall o panel por ion ex nds lat ra i m. th s e g s a to pro ectbove the bath rb his extended w o pane portion i adapted to lie againstthe lathing of the room wall and thu constitu e a dam a ra ged to Prevnt t es pe 0 wate Pa t the rim Qf the 11 1?- T e a el port on Pref rabbut set .nss s ar ly eath red as to t ness so hat it dess'net nt r e withe sub equent pla ter n of its wall.

I i recomm nded at t e ma er a Q w ich h ealing t p is ma e be ex ble epliabl ub tance s she rubb r rub er p epo it on o mp e a e a i he p a lt en bles he stripping to be conformed to the wall contours as we s t tht b m nfi m'at an the typical use of the material the attachment portionof the strip is placed over the edge of the tub at the rim portion, andthe panel part of the sealing strip is fastened to the lath, eitherbeing tacked or adhesively cemented into place, Then the plastering orthe tiling of the bath room wall is performed in the iisual manner, withthe plaster or the tile starting at the rim of the tub and continuingupwardly over the sealing strip and over the room -wall 'thereabove.

. Similar strips of material may be installed at the room corners abovethe tub.

The bathtub l shown in the drawing is oi the typical ceramic type andtheportions of-the rim 2, which are adapted to reside adjacent the roomwalls, terminate in splayed flanges '3. This part of the tub'is of thegeneral shape of a T incross section, with one edge beadextending abovethe tub 'rim and another below it, so as to provide strengthening beads.This r-im normally is adapted to reside adjacent the studding 4 of theroom wall or the plaster lath which is carried upon the studding.

In accordance with the present invention the sealing strip 6 isinstalled to form an impervious bridge between the plaster-lath and thetub rim. Thus, the sealing material, in .one sense, constitutes asupplemental rim of substantial height associated vwith .the :bathtub sothat water cannot pass beyond the built-in edges of it.

In -:the preierredembodiment, .the sealin strip 5 :is constituted ofrubber aor suitable rubber composition material .of 1a pliant nature,and .a groove delin a ed by inwardly-turned flanges L0 is provide a Q:the lower longitudinal edge of the. strip. This groove :is .of thegeneral .contou .of thesplayed tub rim, and :the portions in ofthastri-nwbichdfine :the:groov p nebespread part; so that the strip mayeslipped .dver Zthe flan a 1th, tub whe "this a done :gthe sealing strip,1s' attached to the rim in sealing relationship and the tub is nowprepared to be built into the recess. Thus, in Figure 1 the strip 6 isattached to the tub rim and the panel portion 1 extends above the rimand rests against the plaster lath of the room wall.

The panel portion 1 may be tacked into place by means of the tacks 8, asshown in Figure -2. or it may be cemented, though in many instances nosecondary fasteners at all are required. The J sealing strip is usedboth along the sidewise edge of the tub and along each of the ends ofthe tub. Then the plaster or tiling 9 is put upon the room walls in theusual manner.

As will be seen in the cross sectional Figure 2, the sealing strip issufiiciently thin so that it does not interfere with the plastering ortiling subsequently applied. If panel board or linoleum is to be appliedto the room walls the lower edges thereof may be feathered or chamferedto lap over the panel portion of the sealing strip in such manner thatthe thickness of it can be readily accommodated.

While the sealing strip shown in Figures 1 and 2 has one endwise portionconfigurated in the form of a yieldable cleat adapted to engage thesplayed edge of the tub rim, this arrangement is not essential, but itis preferred because it provides a convenient means for attaching thesealing strip to the tub rim. Instead, however, the portion of the stripwhich engages the lower part of the rim may be omitted. In such aninstance the strip may be of angle or L shape, the one web being adaptedto rest on the tub rim and the other against the wall. The rim portionpreferably is shaped to complement the configuration of the upper partof the tub rim. In installations of the latter sort it is desirable tofasten the strip to the studding by means f tacks or the like.

In the preferred installations the sealing strip passes continuouslyaround the built-in edges of the tub and consequently the use of thestrip is particularly advantageous in maintaining watertight joints atthe corners where theroom walls adjoin one another. Since the strip isflexible it may be bent around the corners of the tub to provide acontinuous seal.

In the installation of bathtubs equipped with shower heads there isfrequent leakage of Water at the junctures of the room walls above thebathtub. The plaster separates at the vertical corner crevices throughshrinkage, and openings are provided through which water may pass intoadjacent rooms or the rooms below and thereby cause damage. I

In accordance with the present invention vertical sealing strips areprovided for use in conjunction with the endwise sealing strips. Theseyerticalstrips are of angle or L-shape, with the edges at the lower partof each strip being chamfered or feathered outwardly to complement thechamfering of the horizontal sealing strips. The upper portions of thevertical sealing strips are chamfered inwardly. This is done for twopurposes. The strips may be relatively short duplicate lengths adaptedto be arranged serially in a vertical rim, extending as high asnecessary to provide protection against seepage. If a single length isall that is necessary, the inward tapering at the upper portions of thevertical sealing strips makes plastering easier since there are no sharpabutments. Thus, the material for vertical sealing may be made inrelatively short lengths of say one or two feet, with each of thethereto, which bathtub rim is of splayed, T-like formation, the saidmaterial comprising a relatively thin strip of substantial width, witha. portion of the strip adjacent one longitudinal edge beingconfigurated in cross section to complement at least the upper edgewiseportion of the said bathtub rim and the remainder of the strip being ofoutwardly tapering formation in cross section.

2. A material for providing a water-tight seal between a bath room walland a splayed T-like rim of a bathtub adjacent the wall, said materialcomprising a flexible, substantially water impervious strip which is ofsubstantial width, the said strip consisting of a longitudinal panelportion of reduced thickness and an edgewise portion adjacent the panelportion of increased over-all thickness, the said thicker edgewiseportion having a groove therein which is adapted to engage and grip theupper and lower edgewise portions of the splayed T-like bathtub rim.

3. A material for providing a water-tight seal between a bath room walland the rim of a bathtub adjacent the wall, which rim is of the kindterminating in a splayed portion said material comprising a flexible,substantially Water impervious strip which is of substantial width, thesaid strip being comprised of a panel portion of reduced thickness andan edgewise portion adjacent the panel portion of increased over-allthickness, the said thicker edgewise portion having a groove thereinwhich is complementary to the splayed portion of the rim and is adaptedto engage and grip the edge of the bathtub rim, the said portion ofreduced thickness being outwardly tapered, in cross section, toward theedge which is opposite the said thicker portion.

4. A material for providing a water-tight seal between a bath room walland the rim of a bathtub adjacent the wall, which rim is of the typeterminating in a splayed edge the said material comprising a resilientstrip of water impervious material of substantial width, a portionadjacent one edge of the strip being chamfered outwardly to asubstantially feather-like edge, the portion of the strip adjacent theother edge being configurated to provide a groove having a contourcomplementary to the splayed portion of said bathtub rim, the groovedportion and the panel portion being arranged relative to one another insuch manner that when the grooved portion is in engagement with abathtub rim the panel portion extends above the rim.

5. A material for providing a water-tight seal between a bath room walland the rim of a bathtub adjacent th wall, which rim is of the typeterminatin in a splayed portion the said material comprising a resilientstrip of water imper vious material of substantial width, a portionadjacent one edge of the strip being chamfered outwardly to asubstantially feather-like edge, the portion of the strip adjacent theother edge having a dovetail groove therein whereby the wallsconstituting the groove may be spread apart to receive the splayed rimof a bathtub and thereafter be released to grip said rim.

PETER R. HOLLAENDER.

